Myself, born again in the darkness
by Ultra-Pop
Summary: An old man with nothing to live or die for, a young man with hope has it smashed in front of him. Can Obito find this enigmatic Tobi figure and avenge his family, or will Tobi's mechanisms leave the world too bloody and confused to find him?
1. Episode Tobi

Dankness and darkness was the first thing he saw waking from his slumber. A sullied black cloak covering his wounded body. _Where am I?_ He turned and looked in the darkness; all he saw was a wet open field inside a forest, covered from the full moon by long thick clouds. _I was fighting…Naruto._ His eyes sprung open as fast as his body did upwards. He checked his chest, repaired and lacking the seal containing the Ten-Tails. _I absorbed the Ten Tails; I awoke its Shinju form…what happened?_ Rubbing his eyes he sat looked down for a moment.

_The ground is wet and fine._ He felt it, true to what he saw the ground was marshy from a light rainfall. _All the hole and crevices are gone, the trees are still here. The place looks like it did before the Eight Tails destroyed the forest._ He looked around, the trees surrounding the canopy of the forest has in. He swallowed and vaguely thought about finding a water source to quench his thirst. He used his Kamui and teleported back to his base of operations.

_~Elsewhere~_

He quietly slipped back "home" and noticed something deadly wrong. Or rather livingly wrong, Madara. Not the immortal zombie that had betrayed him, but the old withered husk that had once saved him. Sleeping as peacefully as he could clinging to life on the Gedo Mazo. The seconds ticked by for Obito with his own breath slowly inhaling and exhaling. He left in what was under a minute, but far too long for him, the napping Madara being none the wiser.

_~Kamui Dimension~_

He sat on the cold white structure and thought over everything to himself. Madara is alive, I'm alive, Madara is old and withered, I am alive, the battlefield was as it was before_, I am still alive_.

"I know where I am, but when am I?" he said calmly to himself. _Konoha_ was his immediate thought. He'd know when things were if he were to go there and see it for himself. A thought hit him. _I am alive, old man Madara is alive, Obito and the Uchiha's must be alive too if the oldest Uchiha is too. Minato, Kakashi, Rin._ The last name made his breath pause for a moment. If she was alive, could he see her, and…

No, she was still a child, or would be or whatever. If she was alive she'd die again one day. The Moons Eye Plan was the only thing that mattered, not the fleeting material world. "Let's see how things are at home." He took one of his spare masks, the old one with a sideways flame pattern, and again he left.

_~Konoha~_

He stood atop a cylindrical appendage of a building near the Hokage Monument. Three heads, Minato's was not on the mountainside, old buildings he remembered from his childhood were as they once were. _Minato isn't yet Hokage, the buildings look similar, how old would I be, or have been? How much time and work do I have now?_ What to do with all this time on his hands, rebuilding Akatsuki, recollecting the Tailed Beasts, everything needed to be redone in some manner. Sigh, one step forward, ten more back.

"Excuse me." He turned his head to find a man no more than 30 or so years on him, red markings beneath his eyes, and a long white mane adorning his head "Nice weather ain't it?" he asked smiling. "It is, Jiraiya of the Sannin." "Ah, my reputation precedes me does it not?" he replied with a halfcocked grin.

_~Jiraiya~_

Tall and dressed in a dark cloak and one orange and black mask, the man had appeared out of the corner of Jiraiya's eye as he was walking the grounds, appreciating the beauty of nature. Out of the blue the masked man asked "How old are you?" "Huh, how old am I? Brat do you know how disrespectful it is to ask such a thing of the Great Toad Sage!" he declared posing, arms stretched out left and right. The masked did nothing and said nothing. "…er, 33, why do you want to know?"

Again the masked man did and said nothing. After a moment had passed, and the clouds lifting a bit to let the moon illuminate him some more, the man replied. "Curiosity. Is there anything you want from me?" "A masked ninja who appeared out of nowhere and ominously stares at the Hokage Monument is something I felt I had to check out. Who are you?" Another moment had passed in tense silence among them, the only noise being from the few still walking pedestrians on the streets down below.

"Come on now, I answered two questions, and you've done one. Even it out for me." He stated authoritatively. He stance indicating he was ready to fight at a moment's notice. "I am a man forgotten by his friends" he stated "one left to writhe in the darkness. I am no one, I do not wish to be anyone, but if you insist on calling me something, I am" he paused for a half second, breathed in the cool night air, and finished "Tobi." Jiraiya looked at him, face slipping back to a smile "Tobi huh? Ain't exactly a tough sounding name. Image is everything in the ninja world you know?"

_~Tobi~_

33 years old, he would have been what, 10? The Uchiha would have been still around. I would be off training with my team, which was that night that I spend almost half the night with them? The one Minato came with them to deliver my goggles? "What is the date?" he asked sounding almost excited? "March 4th, you seem to be somewhat obsessed with numbers Tobi-san." Why was he asking about his age, the date. "Are you by any chance lost? Confused?" A ninja is dangerous and unstable by nature, but one with memory issues is something either very good or very bad, depending on who found them and who the finder is. Did Jiraiya think he was a mad man, or just lost?

"Thank you Jiraiya-san, your help was most appreciated. I will never forget you and your assistance." He did a short bow and activated Kamui, something that caused Jiraiya to jump back in surprise. By the time he had left, Jiraiya was a wearing a face of undiluted confusion.

"21 days, 21 days until I strike" That March 28th was the night he was away from home all night, that he failed to sneak past some late night guards and spend the other half of the night being chewed out by his dad. He got home around 2 in the morning, lights out across the clan compounds was 10. 4 hours for him to take on the Uchiha Clan on his own.

"It'll be interesting, seeing how much I can get myself to hate myself" There was no point in restarting the Moons Eye Plan, he had failed once. He tried to push it to the back of his mind, but it was true. All those years of work and careful manipulation, years of spinning failure to victory and outwitting the whole world, gone. Now what? Another 20 years of planning and scheming? No, time to start a new plan, one of him against himself.

"I am no one, and I will be the one to end my own existence." _I am no one, and I wish you Obito will be someone this time around._


	2. Episode Obito

"Crap, crap, crap I'm late!" Obito Uchiha, 10 years old and running for his life, had violated curfew far too many times in his life to get away with it again. But never before had he stayed passed midnight. "Mom is gonna kill me!" he panted jumping onto some nearby trees to save time. "Gotta take a breather." He sat down on a nearby bench for a minute and looked up at the moon, a half crescent giving partial illumination, enough so someone without the Sharingan could see around themselves just fine.

"One of these days, I'll get my Sharingan, and everyone will be sorry they laughed" he declared to himself, or maybe the moon he was looking at, "Minato-sensei will be happy, Rin and Kakashi will be dumbstruck." His breath finally slowed down to the point he could stand. "Well, time to except my sentence." He declared, stalking off like a prisoner to the guillotine.

_What time is it, gotta be like past one._ He arrived home to the quarters with strangely no guards or anyone walking the premises. _Night shift guys must have gotten drunk or something. Hey! Maybe I can sneak in and mom and dad won't be home! Hell yeah._ Ditching the sneaking approach he decided to walk around like a big man, hands in his pockets, head held up high, and confidently walked home.

_Where is everyone?_ None of the lights were on, obviously for this time of the night. But things didn't feel right, or rather smell right. _Something smells weird, did the septic system get broken again? Nah, that smelled way worse last year._ He kept walking, getting a bad feeling in his stomach, for a moment he thought he heard someone scream, but that was probably just someone having a nightmare. He arrived at a block away from his home, ready to hop into bed.

_Almost home, just another…corner_ Nothing could have prepared him for the sight in front him

Bodies and blood everywhere were in front of him. Men nailed to the walls with katana blades, bodies hacked to pieces, brains leaking out of smashed skulls. On one wall was a man impaled to it with a dozen kunai, near him was a pile of 4 or 5 corpses thrown to the ground. "What, what the fuck?" He couldn't breathe; all of this was just too surreal.

He fell to the ground and slowly backed up, deciding to turn around, and found even worse. Before him, where he had just walked, were men, women, even some kids _younger than him_ all on the ground, bodies splayed out in a gory mess, blood covering the ground he walked on. Wait, he looked down and saw his sandals, covered in red.

Running up the walls and getting and the roof he started repeating to himself, _this can't be real, this is some kind of genjutsu or joke or something._ His family members, dozens of them, were violently hacked to death around him; he looked again down out of disturbed desire to confirm what he saw. Ichiro, Mana, his cousins who just got married 4 days ago were both on the ground, Mana cut in half horizontally; Ichiro burn to a crisp, with only his distinctive silver hair making him distinct from the charred corpse.

"I just saw Ichiro and Mana this morning, they can't be dead. No way, no way" at this point he was sitting down, breath raggedy and voice shaky, on the verge of tears.

"No, please no" he begged the world, God, anyone and thing that was listening for this all to be fake, he tried dispelling a Genjutsu like Minato-sensei taught him, look around for who did this, but he couldn't move his legs, he couldn't get up.

"It hurts doesn't it?" A voice, he snapped his head to the right and saw a dark cloaked man, masked and holding a katana. "Having your loved ones around you die, there being nothing you can do?"

"Are, are you the son of a bitch who did this" voice still shaky and on the verge of screaming, he waiting and held his breath "Answer me!" he screamed, jumping to his feet and pulling out a kunai.

"Yes, I am the man who killed most of the Uchiha clan." He said as calmly as someone would describe the weather.

He couldn't believe it; this guy killed all of them? Himself? Obito asked "What do you mean you did it, was it alone and what do you mean by most?" Were his mom and dad still alive? Why did this guy do it, "Talk you bastard!" Goddamn it why is he so quiet.

"The ninja world is a broken and ugly world" he started, planting his katana behind him and laying against it, mockingly causal against Obito's shaky stance. "The Uchiha are just the most withered branch of a rotten tree in that world, I killed them because I do not consider them valuable to me. Or rather," he paused again, for what felt like minutes and finally stated

"I killed them precisely because they were more useful to me dead."

And here the conversation stopped, Obito launched his kunai, pulling our more and tossing with all his might. The masked man merely took his sword, spun around and knocked them each out of the air. "Is that all Obito? You can't even throw kunai and shuriken together?" "Fuck you!" he did just that, adding a Fireball Jutsu after the last shuriken was thrown. The man simply jumped out of the way and evaded the attacks.

_Crap, I can't beat this guy on my own, what to do._ An idea hit him. He did the seals for Snake, Dragon, Rabbit, and Tiger. He aimed his head upwards and let out a long fire into the air.

_Hopefully someone will see it._

"Alerting fellow Shinobi when fighting an enemy? Impressive thinking Obito, I didn't think you had it in you." The masked man said almost impressed. _Wait, how did he…?_ "How do you know my name?" Obito asked, curious and trying to buy time for someone to get here

_~Tobi~_

_He's a lot smarter than I remember I was, being pushed into a corner helps I suppose. "_Alerting fellow Shinobi when fighting an enemy? Impressive thinking Obito, I didn't think you had it in you." Obito looked at him with red eyes, ones that would have been a normal black any other night; _He's awakened the Sharingan, good._" How do you know my name?" he asked, voice hoarse from screaming and shouting and holding back tears.

"I am he who knows everything, I am Tobi." "Why, why did you do all this?" "I told you, besides, the Uchiha never truly meant anything to me. All I ever was, a mere tool in their arsenal, they abandoned me the moment they no longer needed me." _Did you catch my hint boy? You better have._

_~Obito~_

"You, you're " he stopped himself. _No, there's no way he's, he's a _"an Uchiha?" He gasped out in shock.

"That is correct, I was once part of our beloved clan" he stated with no small amount of mockery in his tone, no grand amount of affection left over from his years with them. "Then why? WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THIS?" he lost all control now, screaming and crying at the man, no strength left in his legs to hold him, none in his arms to cast jutsu or throw weapons.

"The old order must make way for the new; I'm just speeding up the process. As I said before I didn't kill all of them, but most. The mothers, fathers, anyone over 13 generally. Although a few children were a bit of a problem, had to kill them because they wouldn't fall to my Genjustu." He paused and looked up at the moon. "You are my new hope Obito, I am vesting you with the sole responsibility of killing me."

What. "You, you want me to kill you?" he repeated bewildered. "Naturally" he replied mystically," but not here, not now. You are young, you have a lifetime to grow old and experience the pain and suffering of this world. If one day you do kill me, and not have realized that, I will be just as fine." He turned his head toward the village, growling something to himself and back to Obito.

He disappeared, for a moment Obito panicked but quickly looked around, before being caught from behind. The last thing he saw was a Sharingan, fully formed and piercing into his mind.

_~Minato~_

"Sensei, why do we all have to go to deliver Obito's goggles?" the bored, young, and masked Kakashi asked hopping from roof to roof with his 2 teammates.

"Because Kakashi, it's late and I don't want you guys wandering back home without adult supervision" he stated, patting Kakashi's head, and amidst Rin's giggles.

"We are ninja Minato-Sensei." the little genius was quick to retort, feeling insulted at being insinuated that he was a child, "We don't need to be watched after."

"I know, but I'm your sensei and my word is law" end the conversation there. In truth Minato wanted the 4 (3 now) to open up to each other, bond emotionally and not just over job duties. Every moment counted in the world they lived in every day.

"We are almost here" Minato started, "and we." He stopped immediately and looked upwards. "A Ryuuka jutsu?" Kakashi asked.

"Kakashi take my left hand, Rin take my right." Minato was now standing taller and more serious than before. "Obito is in trouble." He pulled out a Hiraishin kunai and tossed it fast and high toward the fire. They grabbed him hands, "Let's go."

In an instant they were gone, only a few hundred feet from Obito's position. The first thing Minato saw was the masked man, similar in stature to how Jiraiya described him, holding in his arms Obito.

"Who are you and what is your business with Konoha?" Minato asked, getting into position with Kakashi grabbing his White Fang Saber, and Rin pulling out a kunai.

"Minato Namikaze, a pleasure." The man gave a bow and slung Obito over his shoulders, which made Minato angrier. He took a breath to calm himself, and noticed something.

"Kakashi, check over the roof, what's on the ground." Kakashi hesitated for a moment on the strange request, but checked a few feet over.

"I count a few dozen dead bodies sensei" he answered, calmness covering his shock.

"More than a few dozen Kakashi-kun." All three members froze at that.

"How do you know my name?" Holding up his blade slightly

"Fair question, as I told Obito, I am he who knows everything. I am Tobi."

Minato's eyes opened slightly at that. "So you are the one Jiraiya met 3 weeks ago." He stated, and to that Tobi nodded.

"I am the new order, the one who shall shake this corrupt world to its core. And what better to start than with the Uchiha, a rotting branch of an old falling tree." He stated as exuberantly as he had been so far.

"You killed all the Uchiha?" No way, this one man couldn't have taken them all

"Not all of them, I left some of the children alive, Obito here is one of them." Minato let out an unintended sigh. Obito was safe. "In any case, my work here is done. I've told Obito what I wanted to say, and I will take my leave."

At that he tossed Obito over to Minato, who caught him and gave him a quick look over. No external damage, but under a Genjustu from what his chakra felt like.

"Goodbye Minato," he peered up at Tobi "train him well, I will face him again." At that he started to warp into his right eye and was gone.

"Minato-sensei, what just happened?" Rin asked confused and taking Obito into her arms for a look over, pushing chakra into him and removing the Genjustu.

"I don't know Rin" he really didn't. "But Obito is alive, we should be happy at that at least." He was glad. If what Tobi said was true, the village was in trouble. War was approaching and the village's biggest clan had just been slaughtered. "I'm taking us to the Hokage mansion." He took the three and teleported them.


	3. Episode Minato

"And that leaves only 22 Uchiha alive, all under 15 years, and 167 dead, of all ages." The Anbu's voice was toneless and stiff. Perturbed at the sight he saw but keeping his voice steady, the idea that one man had killed the entire Uchiha Clan over the course of a night spread throughout the village by mid-morning the next day. Village guards and sensors were working overtime to make sure the enigmatic "Tobi" hadn't reappeared.

"Understood, where are all of them as of now?" the 3rd Hokage asked breathing out from his pipe.

"All are currently in the general hospital sir. The youngest, named Itachi age 4 months, needed a wet nurse and is the only one not under solitary surveillance."

"Understood" "What is the status of Obito Uchiha?" asked Minato.

"He is currently under sedatives; he awoke around 7 and had a panic attack sir." He added quickly after seeing the blond man's darkened face

At that Minato got up and paced around the room for a bit. The 3rd Hokage waved hand and the Anbu left.

"You ok kid?" asked the 3rd and final man in the room, Jiraiya. "You've been up since yesterday, overworking yourself without any leads isn't healthy" he suggested putting his hand on Minato's shoulder.

"It's alright Sensei." Minato replied with a frown, "I'm not tired yet, I'm just at a loss what to do."

"Well no point in tiring yourself out tracing circles in the floor," he admonished "follow your student's example and go take a nap in the other room."

"Sensei!" he protested "I'm not a kid; I can't just go take a nap during a crisis like this!"

"I repeat, you can't do anything now, and you look like crap. If you aren't going to go sleep go check on your hospitalized student." He suggested with a slight tilt over Minato, trying to use his height to cower him into accepting.

"That…" he paused for a second "sounds like a good idea. Tell Kakashi and Rin to come when they wake." And like that he teleported to one of his seals near the hospital.

"So Jiraiya" his old sensei started slowly. "Tell me again about this Tobi figure."

"Aight sensei, but I don't think I'll remember anything new." Jiraiya layed back against the wall and put his hand under his chin. "He was dressed in an all-black cloak and had an orange mask with a single right eyehole, bout 5, 8 tall. He appeared literally out of nowhere and left just the same, probably some kind of Sharingan technique if Minato's hypothesis about him being an Uchiha is correct."

He paused and coughed before continuing "I thought at first he was lost or suffering some kind of head wound, asking me about my age and the date. Getting excited and calming down quickly, so I tried to talk him down. And he left without warning."

"Hmmm." The older man took a drag of his pipe and said "It doesn't seem like the attack on the Uchiha Clan wasn't premeditated too far, probably a spur of the moment decision. The only question is why. Who is he, why did he do this, all questions we can probably only learn from the man himself."

_Probably indeed._ Both sat in silence for a moment before the Hokage ordered one of his ninja to appear, "Get me a list of all Uchiha killed or missing in action."

"Any particular time frame Hokage-Sama?"

"No, all of them." He ordered and the other man left.

"We're going to scour thought every dead or missing Uchiha?" Jiraiya asked with a quizzical look.

"It's the only method we have right now. I believe it is time to summon the clans and officially inform them of what has happened." Officially in the sense that he is confirming what everyone already knows.

_~Minato~_

Seeing Obito in an injured state, broken mentally and physically, made Minato feel like a failure of a teacher. He kept him out late to teach him more, but wound up not giving his own student anything to fight back with. The only reason Obito was alive was the strange sympathy this Tobi gave him. Him and the other children.

"Minato-sensei?" Obito asked waking almost a minute ago only now gathering the strength to talk, and Minato too out of it to notice. "Sensei." He snapped out of it at that second call.

"It's ok Obito, I'm here." He said holding his hand, giving a small smile.

"Is it true?" He asked with another raspy breath, "Are all of them dead?"

"No, there are a couple of kids alive, but they are there." He said as best he could not to spook him. "Remember your little cousin, Itachi? You told me once about how you had to babysit him? He's still around."

"That's good." Obito replied hollowly, shrinking from Minato's touch and spacing off. "I'm gonna sleep a bit more if that's alright." He said already dozing off, voice too quiet to hear without reading his lips.

At that Minato just sat there, in the light of the window pouring down on him. Mocking him in how bright it was and how many were being buried now. At that moment he promised himself, nothing was going to let his students die. He wasn't going to let them be put in another situation like this again, helpless to stop their family dying from others or themselves.

…..

Consider this a small break in the action and suspence. I have some more POV's planned out, with a return to Tobi and his new life free of responsibilities and allies.


	4. Episode Yagura

In the middle of a lake, on an island dozens of miles from the nearest port or docks, and from those who knew where he was, Yagura of the Hidden Mist Village sat on a lotus. A young man of no more than twenty or so, he had a blue flack shirt and grey lined pants sat cross legged on the white giant lotus.

Breathing, meditating, and holding himself away from all the things in the world, he felt something in front of him. Not walk or float, but simply (what was the proper phrase?) materialize.

He opened an eye, pink and pupil less, to see a black cloaked man with an orange wavy mask stand in front of him. Unarmed and tall, around a head taller than the somewhat diminutive Yagura.

"Who are you?" Crisp and clear as the water of the lake underneath his flower. Yagura made his inquiry. _This guy, his chakra came out of nowhere. I'd notice if he snuck in somehow._ _Better keep my eye on him._

Indeed he made his own private little section of the island booby trapped so no one could get in without alerting him well in advance. Enough time to go underwater and sneak through the underground tunnels should he need to.

The black cloaked man made no moves, just stood there and watched him, a lone black eye peering into Yagura's form. "I am Tobi." A simple confident statement, to him it explained everything. To Yagura it meant nothing.

"Is that a clan or given name? Mr. Tobi, I don't presume you mind but I'm trying to meditate here." _He doesn't seem hostile, but I can't take my eye off him. Should I alert Sensei and the others? No, I'll wait a bit longer._

The man, Tobi, turned his head a bit to the side. "Oh my," deeper and thicker than Yagura thought the thin man thought he'd speak, he said "I didn't mean to interrupt anything Yagura-san. Would you like me to come back later? Maybe bring drinks or a snack?" He brought up his hands in mock.

_Son of a bitch is mocking me._ Yagura frowned at the man, like come on you come onto my property, during my mediation time, and you mock me. _Really dude?_

"Sure." Putting on the fakest smile he could muster "Tea and some Sand Village jam would be nice. Take your time." To his surprise Tobi started chuckling.

"You know I could do that in a little under an hour if you wanted." _So his cloaking Ninjutsu is some kind of teleportation Ninjutsu? That's why he appeared out of nowhere, he didn't just hide his chakra._ "Really?" Yagura asked "Could you show me?"

Again Tobi chuckled, "If you wanted to see my technique Yagura-san," he answered in faux politeness, "all you had to do was ask me. No need to sneak about like, gasp, a ninja!" He threw his hands up a faux dramatic attempt to humor him.

"As fun as this is Tobi-san," he got up and cracked his neck, "I there anything I can do for you? Or rather is there any reason you are here?" _He's making jokes, being playful, what's his shtick?_

"You're no fun Yagura-san. Alright let's get serious. I'm here as a man trying to change the world for the better." Dropping the goofy façade he'd been wearing, Tobi started to change back into his serious voice. "I spent a long time making plans that fell apart. I'm going to do things differently this time. I'm going to be a bit more of a distant player." He pointed at Yagura "And you will help me."

_Change the world, making plans?_ "You sound like a raving madman." He curtly stated. "Why and how should I help you? What's in it for me?"

Chuckling at his word Tobi responded "You are already my pawn. You don't have much of a choice in the matter. You can go with the current, or be knocked over by the force of the waves." He reached into his black cloak.

Yagura jumped back a few feet off his lotus, and reached for his shuriken _My staff I back at my house, going to have to bring out reinforcements._

"Calm down boy." He stopped his train of thought and looked up at Tobi, holding not any kind of weapon but a scroll. Standing where he jumped back Yagura shouted "I'm not taking anything from you until I get some answers. Who are you, what the hell are you planning, and what do you want from me?"

"Children are so rude these days," Tobi remarked, more to himself than Yagura. He walked up to the lotus Yagura was sitting on and made himself comfortable.

"Have you heard about the Uchiha Massacre boy?" Waiting for him to respond, Tobi stated with a tiny smirk "That was my doing."

His eyes widening and his body starting to shiver Yagura responded "You? You alone killed the clan with the holy eyes? Either your some kind of monster or a loud imposter who has no clue what he'd doing. Given your demeanor I'm thinking the latter."

"Let me ask you this boy. Where are your fellow ninja?"

"What?" Yagura had 15 or so fellow ninja on the island training or visiting, come to think of it. They must have noticed him flaring his chakra even one of them. "Are you saying you killed them?" His blood ran cold, he was ready to strike in moments and was about to until Tobi stopped him.

"I killed no one; I did however knock them all out. Pretty impressive to do so all myself and without alerting you until I wanted to make myself alert isn't it?"

Yagura was in a conundrum here, he could check on his fellow ninja, and possibly be attacked by this man, or stay here and continue to be aggravated. Tobi decided to solve his issue for him. "Go check, I'll wait, I have nothing but time nowadays."

At this Yagura leaped away to confirm his suspicions.

~Tobi~

_Little Yagura is a lot more impulsive and rude than the former Mizukage. He's strong, but a little dim. Switching between suspicious and trusting of me._ Tobi mulled over what he was to do now. _So much time now, so little allies, so many possible pawns to anoint and enemies to find. I wonder how little Obito is doing? Will_ _end up like me, bitter and sullen, or will the people around him provide some support that a young mind needs._

In a cruel twist, Tobi decided to test a hypothesis on his younger self. Will he break without his family, driven by the same curse that ruined many of them? Or will he be nurtured under that Will of Fire that seemed to be present in his friends, nature or nurture, only he was using himself as a subject.

If there was a third Tobi or Obito watching they would laugh at the sadomasochist implications involved in-

"Alright I'll listen."

_Hmm._ Tobi looked up, Yagura returned looking more annoyed and shaken than before. "You did knock them out and didn't kill anyone. You obviously want to talk and I'm willing to listen."

_Woops, should get distracted while there are potential hostiles around. Ah whatever._

"Alright let's start at the beginning. I've been a busy man these past few years. I've been all over the Elemental Nations, involved with a lot of people, lots of shady dealings here and there. Long story short I've failed at my long term plan." He stopped there, looking for the right words

"I don't want to go out accomplishing nothing. Killing the Uchiha was a part of a side project of mine." This one statement more than any other made him pause at his own words.

_Familicide is just another thing to me? Heh, amazing, I wonder how Obito would react._

"I am not the kind of man who just lollygags and lets things fall into place. I prefer to actively move things about. I prefer to be manipulating things. But that was the old me. They one who failed and was left with nothing but himself. So I've decided to make some lifestyle changes. I'm going to let others manifest their destinies, their visions for the world. I'm seeking out important men and women to help me. Or rather, help themselves."

He looked deep into Yagura's eyes. "And you are one of the people who are going to be important soon, young Yagura."

_~Obito~_

Hundreds of miles away, in much warmer and humid weather, a young boy of no more than ten years awoke. Bandaged, drowsy, and ready to finally leave the hospital, Obito Uchiha stretched his limbs and called for the nurse.

Obito Uchiha, one of the few survivors on what was now called the Uchiha Massacre. A horrific crime perpetrated by a lone masked man, known only by his distinctive mask and his identity as an Uchiha.

What made Obito unique among the survivors was his firsthand experience with the criminal, named Tobi. Obito managed to fight and obtain information from Tobi, and this information was what confused and troubled Obito for his whole hospitalization.

"_Yes, I am the man who killed most of the Uchiha."_

How did he do it? How did one guy manage to kill over 200 people? Dozens of experience ninja should have been able to beat him in home territory. They should have wounded him or at least tired the bastard out! But no, he just chilled and mocked him before knocking him out.

"_The ninja world is a broken and ugly world."_

He said it so uncaringly, like he'd said it over and over and was on autopilot. Calm confident bastard.

"_The Uchiha are just the most withered branch of a rotten tree in that world."_

Rotten tree, withered branch? What the hell had his family, his mom, his dad, his cousins and aunts and uncles done to deserve this? What goddamn it!

What confused, and terrified him the most where his near last words.

"_You are my new hope Obito, I am vesting you with the sole responsibility with killing me."_

Why me? Why not anyone else, not any of the Chunin, Jonin, Anbu, _anyone but me_? I didn't even faze that guy. I couldn't do anything except call for back up. Why me? Maybe he knows something I don't. Maybe, maybe…

Maybe I shouldn't even try. He nearly killed my whole family. He's probably out there hunting down the Uchiha out on missions. I, I can't do it.

Hands shaking, arms trembling, Obito made his first reaction since the incident and just brought himself to his knees and wept. He vaguely felt a hand on his back, but couldn't bring himself to check.

"It'll be ok Obito, we're here." Rin. He turned and saw her, Kakashi, and Minato-sensei looking at him. Sensei had a basket and Kakashi was holding a bottle of water. Handing said bottle he asked, "You ok?"

I didn't say anything, I just took the bottle and drank from it. The ice cold flow soothed my head and my heart. "You excited to leave Obito?" Minato-sensei brought up the basket he held. "I thought that we should spend some time together, you've been cooped up in the hospital for a month."

I just kinda nodded and got up off the bed. I went and changed back into normal clothes in the restroom and we left for one of the parks down the road.

_~Minato~_

It ached Minato to see Obito, the normally shining young man who could illuminate an alley with his smile, so quiet and distraught. Only half paying attention to the doctor telling him to keep Obito off of missions until a few more checkups, the gang of 4 went off to the nearby Amanohashidate Konoha Park.

A bright and sunny day beat down on the long sidewalk and field. The trees were starting to brown. Sitting under a tall, nearly 30 foot, tree Team Minato sat and ate. Rin munched on strawberries, Kakashi snuck in bites of hi sandwich when no one was looking, and Minato already ate and just watched the three.

Laying back against the light brown trunk Obito chewed on an apple, listening to Rin talk about what happened since he was in the hospital. Recounting a humorous little tale about looking for a lost dog as part of a mission, and how when they found her they also found a whole litter of pups. 11 to be exact. Obito occasionally nodded, but mostly just gnawed his apple, already starting to brown.

"You hungry for something else Obito?" He looked up at my face, eyes still slightly red and puffy. "An apple isn't going to fill you up; you'll never grow big and tall eating little food."

Rin admonished "You're always bugging him to eat healthy Minato-sensei, and now you're telling him not too. Make up your mind!" She (mock) threateningly waved a ladle in his face, causing Minato to chuckle. Looking at the ladle gave him an idea "How about some soup guys? Kushina made her eggplant soup, you guys loved that right?" Kakashi looked excited; or rather he looked as excited as someone like Kakashi did, hungry for Kushina's cooking.

"Only you'd think to bring soup on a picnic Sensei." Surprisingly it was Obito who made that remark, looking back at him Minato saw him grinning at his sensei and continued, "I guess Kushina-sempai's cooking got complete control over ya huh?"

He'd finally gotten a real reaction out of Obito. Thank God. Not one to let his remark go, Minato grabbed him and put him in a headlock, "Keep talking like that Obito and no soup for you." "WHAT! No come one sensei I was just joking! You wouldn't make a sick tiny boy hungry would you?"

Practically begging like the puppies they found a week ago, Obito grabbed Minato in a bear hug and looked up at him, eyes comically watering.

Chuckling at his antics, Minato responded "Well I guess I can let this remark slide. And for your information little sick boy," he said pulling Obito's cheeks both ways, "Soup is a picnic food, me and Kushina had it one our first date."

"Sensei I thought your first date was a walk not a picnic"

"Not now Kakashi I'm trying to make a point."

"By lying? All that proves is that even Obito can beat you in an argument, which I can't tell is good for Obito or really, really, sad for you." He replied deadpan.

"You surprised I can do something you can't Kakashi?" Said boy turned to face Obito. "I'm just saying not everyone has my wit and word skill."

"Yes," Kakashi slowly repeated "Not everyone has your _wit_ and word _skill_."

Indignantly Obito shot back "Why're you putting air quotes over my words."

"Technically I put air quotes over wit and skill, not words" Obito could practically hear Kakashi's mocking thoughts and laughter.

"You know what I mean!" Pointing at him with the the most hot-blooded face he could manage.

"Sorry, must be that lack of _wit_ on my part." He mock through up his hands in surrender.

Despite everything that happened, everyone was happy they could just share in these precious few moments together. For Obito this might not be the most conventional medicine. But he needed and appreciated it more than anything else.

Some more insight into Tobi's "plans", and some happy times for Obito. Kid needs something to keep him steady, and his surrogate family will do wonders for that.


End file.
